Manatt Welcomes Health Care Transformation Leader as Managing Director

Claudia Douglass brings over three decades of change management experience advancing digital, value-based care and large-scale health system transformation

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a multidisciplinary, integrated professional services firm, today announced the arrival of Managing Director to the Firm’s health care group. With more than 30 years of experience navigating complex strategy, operations, technology and cultural transformations across the health care industry, Douglass advises providers and health plans on redesigning care delivery, scaling digital and virtual health capabilities, and driving measurable improvements in quality, engagement, experience, growth and cost.

A seasoned health care strategist, Douglass has developed and scaled digital and virtual health offerings, including AI-enabled care models, and led digital transformation efforts focused on improving operational performance, access, quality, affordability and consumer and workforce experience. Her work spans large-scale clinical and operational transformations, including operating model redesign, M&A strategy and integration, and change management, and she brings a deep background in value-based care, population health and digital enablement, including designing enterprise digital roadmaps, advancing virtual and home-based care strategies, and integrating analytics and AI into clinical and operational workflows.

“Claudia is a dynamic addition to our growing team, strengthening our ability to support clients across the full continuum of care as they rethink care delivery, scale digital capabilities and navigate increasingly sophisticated operations,” said , Partner and Leader of Manatt Health. “Her deep experience in strategy, care model innovation and operational transformation expands the breadth of solutions we can bring to health systems at a critical moment for the industry.”

Douglass has partnered with notable health systems and maintains a strong network of C-suite relationships across providers, payers and digital health innovators, enabling her to help organizations implement strategy at scale and accelerate growth in increasingly competitive markets. Her work consistently delivers tangible results, including revenue growth, cost reduction, stronger engagement and improved operational performance, reflecting an end-to-end approach to cultural transformation and change management from strategy through adoption. At Manatt, she will advise provider organizations on strategy, operations and clinical optimization, with a focus on digital transformation and AI-enabled care delivery.

Prior to joining Manatt, Douglass held senior leadership roles across top consulting firms and health systems. Most recently, she served as Partner and Healthcare Growth Leader at a multinational professional services firm, where she led its health care growth initiatives and helped develop innovative offerings across strategy, operational and digital transformation, including AI and automation.

“I’m excited to join Manatt at a time when the health care industry is undergoing such profound change,” said Douglass. “Manatt’s integrated legal and consulting model is uniquely positioned to help organizations reimagine care delivery, and I look forward to working with my colleagues and our clients to accelerate innovation, improve outcomes and build more sustainable, consumer-centered systems.”

Douglass is the latest addition to Manatt’s expanding bench of professionals across health care, including global AI governance, privacy and consumer protection leader ; Senior Advisor , MD, former Washington State Medicaid Medical Director with a focus on health policy, clinical strategy and health equity; Senior Advisor , MD, former Chief Informatics Officer at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) with deep experience at the intersection of clinical care, health policy and enterprise technology; and , who has over three decades of leadership in health care financial services.

Douglass is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a certified Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute and a member of the Healthcare Program Advisory Board for Winthrop University. She earned her Master of Health Services Administration from University of Michigan and Bachelor of Business Administration from University of Miami and completed an executive education program on leading digital transformation in health care at Harvard Medical School.